Shoe heel



March 2l, 1939. 1A BURGER 2,151,314

SHOE HEEL Filed Oct. l2, 1935 Z7 l BY l AT RNEY Patented Mar. 21, 1939UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SHOE HEEL Joseph Burger, Forest Hills, N. Y.

Application October 12, 1935, Serial No. 44,726

Claims.

This invention ,relates to heels of the type known in the trade as woodheels and consisting of wooden heelblocks turned to the desired heelshape and height and covered with some such material as leather,Celluloid, fabric, or the like. Heels of this type have many advantages.The wood may be turned to practically any desired .contour and be of anyheight required, such as for Cuban heels, Louis heels, '10 etc. A greatvariety of covers may be used.

Thus this type of heel provides endless possibilities for stylingpurposes. Also these heels are manufactured complete by specialists inwood turning and heel co-vering operations and are shipped as finishedunits to the shoe manufacturers who vcan apply them by simple nailing-onoperations. This construction however, has certain inherentdisadvantages. The separately applied covers require specially trainedoperators, the operation is a relatively expensive one and these .covershave a tendency to Work loose from the heel block.

'Ihe objects of this invention are to retain the advantages of the woodheels described while avoiding or .eliminating the objectionablefeatures vor vlimitations such as mentioned and, in so doing, to providea unitary, light weight, new type of wood heel which will be moredura-ble, `less expensive and more desirable in other respects than thewood heels now on the market.

The foregoing and other desirable objects are attained by the novelfeatures of construction, combinations and relations of partshereinafter described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing andbroadly covered in the claims annexed.

In the drawing accompanying and forming part of the specification, anumber of diierent embodiments of the invention are illustrated and 40it will be appreciated that the actual physical structure may be modiedin other respects all Within the true intent and broad scope of theinvention.

Fig. 1 is a broken perspective View illustrating 4.5 a length of woodfrom which the blocks for turning the heels are cut.

Fig. 2 is a broken partly sectional top plan view of a Cuban type heelcompleted from such stock.

50 Fig. 3 is a brokenpartly sectional and part side elevational view ofthe completed'heel.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view of this same heel as onsubstantially the plane of line 4 4 of Fig. 3.

l5'5 Fig. v5 is a broken andpartly sectional side elevation of afull-Louis rtype heel produced according to the invention.

Figs. 6 and 7 are part sectional broken side elevations illustratingadditional embodiments of the invention. 5

Fig, 8 is a composite view of a modication showing in perspective theseparately molded cover shell and the turned heel block to which it isto be applied.

Fig. 9 is a vertical sectional View of the last 10 mentioned form of theheel.

From the several views it will appear that the heel of this inventionconsists of a fully shaped heel block ID, encased in a thin molded shellIl, of corresponding conformation, l5

Preferably and advantageously, the heel blocks are turned to the desiredcontour and substantially the full height of the heels, from solidblocks or prisms of wood I2, cut on inclined lines I3, from a continuouslength of wood heel stock I4, Fig. 1. This strip of material is shown asgrooved along its upper surface at I5, and as grooved along its lowersurface at I6, to provide for the bonding or anchorage of the covermaterial. 25

The top grooves I5, may be and preferably are so spaced as to lie nearthe upper side edges of the turned block as shown particularly in Figs.2 and 4. The bottom grooves I6 may be closer spaced, so that in theturned heel form, Fig. 4, 30 a plurality of these grooves will extendalong the bottom or top lift end of the heel blank.

The cover shell may be and preferably is of rubber or rubber compositionmolded to the nished cover shape.

In the forms of the invention illustrated in Figs. 2 to '7, the thincover is directly molded about the heel shape, with portions enteringthe grooves at the top as ribs I-`I and with portions entering thegrooves I6, in the bottom as ribs lf3. In addition to these interlockingelements, the heel shape may be formed with grooves I9, eX- tendingabout the sides of the same and grooves 2li, across the breast end, thecover then having ribs 2l and 22, interlockingly engaged in these 45side and breast end grooves, Figs. 3 and 4.

In addition to, or in place of the interlocking connections describedbetween heel shape and cover, there may be holes 23, extending inclinedor vertically through the heel body and, or, holes 24, extendinginclined or horizontally through the block from end-to-end or throughfrom sideto-side to provide the plugs or strands 25, 26, of covermaterial linking together opposite ends or sides of the cover shell.

Additional bonding and anchorage of the shell to the heel shape may beaccomplished by leaving the heel shape in a rough-turned condition withoutstanding wood bers which will be penetrated to some extent by themolded cover material. In addition to the gain in anchorage, a saving inthe smooth finishing of the heel block is effected by this method.

As shown in Figs. l to 4, the expense of grading the heel blocks may besaved by leaving these blocks, after -being turned, with parallel upperand lower faces and providing the so-called Wedge effect to lift theback of the heel, by a tapered or wedge-shaped thickness of the covermaterial forming an integral top lift as at 21, Fig. 3. Thiswedge-shaped integral top lift portion provides a thicker cushion at therear, where such a cushion and additional Wearing effect is desired.

The flat upper face of the block which becomes the heel seat 28, issurrounded about its edges by an inwardly projecting ange or integralrand 23, of the cover material, which may extend completely about thesides and across the breast end of the heel and, as shown in Fig. 4, thetop anchorage ribs I5, may project downwardly from the side portions ofthis integral rand extension.

The bonding grooves in the heel shape may be continuous or interruptedand they may be square shouldered, dove-tailed or otherwise shaped orundercut to increase the anchorage and bonding effect. Also, thesegrooves may extend horizontally, verticali-y or inclined in various.ways.

In the full-Louis type of heel illustrated in Fig. 5, the bondinggrooves are shown as extending substantially vertically and in the Cubantype of heel illustrated in Fig. 6, these grooves are shown extendingforwardly on an upward ineline correspondinggenerally to the directionof the block taken in the turning operation. In this latterconstruction, these grooves may be produced by having appropriatelyplaced grooves in the knives of the turning machine, so that they willbe automatically formed as a part of the heel turning operation.

The molded cover may be smooth finished, lined or otherwise formed, ortreated to produce dierent desired effects. Thus as shown in Figs. 3, 4and 5, the cover may be grooved as at ill), to represent top lift aloneor the general effect of the lifts of a leather heel. The same orsimilar results may be accomplished by ribs instead ol grooves,representing lift lines as at 3l, in Fig. 6.

Fig. 7 shows how oppositely inclined crosshatching 32, may be providedto simulate the dfferent lift layers. In all or any of these effects,the lift lines may be parallel, inclined with respect to each other, oronly certain of them inclined, such as to produce the wedge effectindicated at 33, in Fig. '7.

Instead of extending entirely through the block, the holes shown at 23and 24, may project only partly into the block so as to produce spurs orlugs on the molded cover material and these openings may be taperedinstead of the same diameter throughout. Also, they may be run atdifferent angles t-o produce various undercut eects for more completebonding and interlocking.

By the bonding effects described, the top lift layer 2l is caused tocarry the load without transmitting undesirable strains to the thinshell portion oi the cover. The top lift groove line'30, is

an additional factor in saving the thin shell por'- tion from carryingthe load to which the top lift is subjected.

While it is usually desirable to form the thin Y cover shell by moldingthe cover material about the heel shape placed in the mold, it may bepreferable for some purposes to mold the thin shell I l as a separateentity as shown in Fig.V 8, and to thereafter force this shell over theheel shape or, conversely, force the heel form into the shell. Therubber or composition shell is so thin and can be of sufficientlyelastic material to readily permit this assembly, the rand flange 29,stretching enough to receive the heel seat end of the block and thencontracting over the same as in Fig. 9, to secure the parts in thisassembled relation. ,Bonding grooves and ribs may be employed in thisconstruction as before andflatex or other suitable cement may be used toassure a permanent unity of the heel shape and molded cover shell. A

In making up this form of the invention, the mold may be formed with acorethe exact or approximate shape, possibly a little smaller than theturned heel block, so that the thin walled cover will exactly nt andclosely hug the block and the resiliency of the cover material will besuch that in the first instance, it will stretch sufficiently to pullover the mold core and, in. the second instance, will stretch enough forthe heel block to fully engage therein. y

In addition to extending parallel or in variously inclined relations,the bonding grooves or openings may criss-cross or meet to effectdesired anchorage conditions between the heel form and the thin cover.

The tread face of the integral top lift portion of the cover may bemolded smooth or with a non-skid surface and this portion may beVcolored the same or differently from the rest of the cover.

mold face and by use of different coloring mediums in the mix for thecover material.

The integral rand extending completely about the heel seat end of theblock is preferably slightly raised above the Vheel seat surface, sothat in the application of the heel,.it will form a complete seal withthe counter and sole of the shoe, taking up any normal inequalities inthe fit of the parts. The grooves, holes or openings Vin the heel shapeare preferably so located as not to interfere with or weaken thenailing-on of the heel to the shoe body. The square shouldered orundercut grooves and ribs, at Vthe heel seat end are particularlydesirable as preventing spreading of the rand at the sides of the heel.

In following the method illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4, all waste of woodis saved, because the blocks are cut from a board or strip which is of athickness, substantially the height the block is to be at the breast endof the heel (Fig. 3), or in other words, is of less thickness thanheretofore by an amount equal`to that which is usually removed bygrading. This lesser thickness board provides when the block isrturnedas in Fig. 3, a he'el shape which is without Wedge effect, havingparallel top and bottom faces, but this wedge effect Y lining or fancyeffects may be provided to match shoes of kid, lizard, alligator,snakeskin, pigskin, canvas, etc., similar to those effects which haveheretofore been obtained by subsequentially separately applied covermaterial.

I'he heels of this invention are comparable in weight to the usual woodheels and may be made by wood heel manufacturers to meet therequirements of diierent shoe manufacturers, at less cost than thepresent Wood heels and they are of more permanent and lasting characterand better capable of withstanding wear. In particular, the heels ofthis invention may be made to any desired height, even in the slimwaisted full-Louis shapes.

This is truly a wood heel as distinguished from a rubber heel or arubber tread member. It is nailed on and used just as a wood heel andhas the lightness, resiliency and nail holding qualities of wood heels.

What is claimed is:

1. A wood heel comprising a wood heel block of substantially the fullshape and height of the heel and provided with grooves in the oppositeends of the same, a molded cover over said block and including a toplift portion having ribs entering the grooves in the top lift end of theblock and a heel cup portion having ribs entering the grooves in theheel seat end of the block.

2. A wood heel, comprising a turned and ungraded wood heel block havingsubstantially flat and parallel top and bottom surfaces and a moldedheel cover having thin side walls about the sides of the turned heelblock, a tapered heel seat flange projecting inwardly over the heel seatend of the block and a wedge-shaped top lift portion over the top liftend oi the block.

3. A wood heel, comprising a turned and ungraded wood heel block havingsubstantially flat and parallel top and bottom surfaces and a moldedheel cover having thin side walls about the sides of the turned heelblock, a tapered heel seat flange projecting inwardly over the heel seatend of the block, a wedge-shaped top lift portion over the tcp lift endof the block and bonding recesses and projections on the block and thecover at positions separately bonding the side covering and top liftportions of the cover to the heel block.

4. The herein disclosed method of forming shoe heels, which comprisesgrooving the upper and lower surfaces of wood heel stock, cutting saidstock in suitable block sizes, turning said blocks in a manner to leaveportions of said grooves in the heel seat and top lift ends of theturned heel blocks and then molding covers about said turned blocks andin interlocked engagement with the grooves in the heel seat and top liftends of the turned blocks.

5. The herein disclosed method of forming shoe heels, which comprisegrooving the upper and lower surfaces of wood heel stock, cutting saidstock in suitable block sizes, turning said blocks in a manner to leaveportions of said grooves in the heel seat and top lift ends of theturned heel blocks and then applying cover material to said turnedblocks.

JOSEPH BURGER.

